


The S In Straw Hat Means Struggle

by orphan_account



Series: S T R A W H E A R T [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: 10 days of LawLu 2k17, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-06 00:11:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11024502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Struggles are common in alliances, butthisparticular struggle isn't as common.Or:Luffy's way of demanding and wanting isn't well received by Law, whose very core protests any kind of authority or demand.





	The S In Straw Hat Means Struggle

It's an utterly ridiculous fight that Law should have expected to happen after forming an alliance with the Straw Hats'. A fight that—no surprise—involves the Captain of the Straw Hats'.  
  
In all his life, Law has never had the pleasure of meeting someone as bullheaded and strange as Straw Hat Luffy. Many of his crew joked that he finally found someone that's on par with his level of stubbornness. He even caught a crew member that said, _“Captain should just fuck Straw Hat and be done with it.”_ A few agreed with this particular idiot, while others, who had haki, were wise enough not to comment. 

That particular crew member has been on Penguin and Shachi babysitting duty since as well as assisting anyone onboard that needs their help. It sounds minor—minus the babysitting—until a crew member known for their deadly weapons and tricks asked for help. Followed by Ikkaku, Jean Bart and Law himself who also requested the unlucky crew members help. Needless to say, the selected crew member has rarely spoken since.  
  
The fight that started it all was begun by Straw Hat.  
  
It began when Law and Robin were discussing which transponder snail to use whenever they needed help—unlike the Straw Hats' who merely use one, Law wisely has two—and when they would likely meet up again. Bepo was swapping information with the fiery navigator at this time when Straw Hat suddenly proclaimed  _"No."_ which had everyone aboard stopping to stare at the force known as Straw Hat Luffy.  
  
The straw hatted captain had his hat shielding his eyes before he lifted his gaze and met Law's own.  
  
_"I refuse."_  
  
The navigator was the first to break the silence.  
  
She screamed and told Straw Hat to stop joking around. It was followed by Tony-ya calling his captain a jerk and various other reactions from the other Straw Hats'. That was until the Straw Hats' unofficially firstmate told them to _'Shut up and let the captain speak.'_ It went silent afterwards, all aboard tight-lipped and awe-stricken.  
  
Straw Hat was still meeting his eyes with a look of determination spread across his features at this time. Law had raised his own gaze and stared defiantly back in return. Ally's or no, D's don't bow or cower to anyone.  
  
_"Torao's not telling me something; so he can't leave until I say."_  
  
Law had understandably wanted to knock the idiot out of Straw Hat's head and watch said idiots crew try to put their captain back together. He was angry— _furious_ —that Straw Hat tried to _control_ him. That Luffy tried to force his will and expected him to _obey_.  
  
They say that anger makes people do and say stupid things which Law knew to be true, hell, he _scolded_ Straw Hat for giving into his anger when they were fighting Doflamingo.  
  
In response, Law said something that's had his crew walking on eggshells of worry since.  
  
_"I'm not yours_ , Straw Hat. _"_  
  
Straw Hat brimmed with anger that matched Law's own.  
  
_"If you ever order me around again, this alliance is over."_  
  
The younger pirate captain frowned before he said _"Fine."_ and remained perched on his captain seat as the furious Surgeon of Death left with gritted teeth and the Heart Pirates in tow.  
  
It's been a week since Law's heard anything from the Straw Hats' or tried to contact them.  
  
Unsurprisingly, most of his crew is angry or worried. Others are being their usual irritating selves and have been dropping hints that are bordering on the edge of Straw Hat insanity.  
  
("So, Captain," Shachi drawled, stirring his cup of cocoa with his usual gusto. "Have you seen any hats lately, maybe the _straw_ kind?"  
  
"Yeah, Captain," Penguin agreed. "Maybe that one really good brand that Miss Nami likes, what is it again?" the blonde headed crew mates bag of chips were tucked under one arm because his crew fight like professionals but squabble like children over mundane things such as dibs. " _Lu_ -chize? _ffy_ -ien? Am I mispronouncing that, Shachi?"  
  
"Nope." Idiot one denied.  
  
It wasn't hard to dismember them as a sign of how much idiot that he could handle at once.)  
  
All anger beside, Law isn't concerned. His ally is a perfectly insane freak of nature that has crew members to babysit him and a long-lost brother to watch his back.  
  
Straw Hat started it after all.  
  
_"Torao's not telling me something—"_

Law swears, balling up the map he just knocked ink all over and discarding it in the nearby trashcan.

Damn Straw Hat and his uncanny ability at knowing shit that _isn't_ any of his busin—

"Captain!" Shachi shouts from somewhere down the hall, followed by frantic footfalls. "Something's wrong, Captain! Something's wrong with the Straw Hats'!"  
  
Law feels a sinking in his gut before he's narrowing his eyes at his bedroom door from where he was trying and failing to sort possibly valuable leads and sources, and fucking wasted maps.  
  
The door's thrown open, revealing a disheveled Shachi panting for air with a frantic look in his eyes that does nothing to calm the Heart Pirates Captain.

"Captain!"  
  
"Spit it out!" Law barks.  
  
His crew member meets his eyes.  
  
"The Straw Hats' are calling for backup."  
  
Dread blossoms in the Surgeon of Death's stomach before he's on his feet and barking orders.

* * *

When they arrived, it was chaos.

Multiple Jolly Rogers decorated various ships that belonged to several lowly pirates that were trying to make a name for themselves in the New World. And unlike other pirate alliances that usually end in betrayal, the group of pirates had a common goal in mind: Destroy those they seen as the weaker Straw Hats' and capture the ones with the highest bounties.

The battle was fierce and had an almost distant resemblance to Marineford, that was either picked up by the Straw Hats' or unconsciously felt if the unusual intensity spiking in the air was anything to go by.

It was when the end of the battle neared that something went horribly wrong.  
  
Straw Hat was fighting the last captain standing while Law himself fought a weapon expert that favored explosives when the grinning bastard had thrown an explosive at him having to know that it would miss. It wasn't until Straw Hat shouted: _"Sunny! You jerk!"_ that the gears turned in Law's head.  
  
One minute, Straw Hat was shouting, the next, the captain he was fighting used a Devil Fruit power that launched the younger captain into the air, hacking up blood and stunned. The Straw Hats' and Heart Pirates watched in horror as the rubbery captain—Luffy—plummeted into the ocean miles away.  
  
At that moment which seemed to have happened in slow motion, it awoken something inhumane in all of them. The insane, loving, loyal, and idiotic Straw Hats' had turned into bloodthirsty monsters out for blood in an instant. Even when Law felt the familiar inhumane anger that he harbors for Doflamingo awaken within him for the rival captain responsible, it couldn't compare to their absolute hate at that moment.  
  
After the battle was said and done, Blackleg-ya had returned with the rubbery captain barely breathing and supported on his back. Tony-ya had taken things from there with Law even becoming involved with his allied captain's treatment. It was seeing someone he cared for on the verge of death, no matter their fight— _you can't let him die! He can't die! Do something!_ —he couldn't not do anything while seeing (knowing) that Straw Hat was hurt because he _wasn't_ there. Because he let pride get in the way and it resulted in someone he cared for being hurt.

There was a protective hesitance to allow him to help, understandably, they were all together before he ever came along and to know that someone that gave them the world or the will to live that they love and cherish named Luffy (Captain) got injured when they were _there_ had to sting. So when he offered to help Straw Hat when they're nothing but ally's (who fuck) was reason for protectiveness and cation. But after Zoro intervened on his behalf ( _"He came, didn't he?"_ ) Law dropped his threatening stance and went into something his crew commonly refers to as _doctor mode_ alongside Tony-ya.  
  
That was hours ago, now he's currently aboard his submarine with Straw Hat being monitored by Tony-ya while the rest of the Straw Hats' hover outside the infirmary door or distract themselves by building or creating things that the rubbery captain will no doubt love once he wakes up.  
  
"Captain," Bepo mumbles from behind him where he's made his lovable best friend into his usual pillow.  
  
Law makes a questioning sound in the back of his throat, basking in the mink bears warmth and comfort while calculating how long it'll be until Straw Hat's awake.  
  
"When are you going to go see Straw Hat?"  
  
The infamous Surgeon of Death let's an exasperated sigh escape—immediately regretful when Bepo apologizes— before he responds to his crew mate.  
  
"Straw Hat and I had a falling out, it would be in our alliances best interest if we refrain from seeing each other for a while."  
  
_'I need distance.'_ _  
_ _  
__'Straw Hat's too much right now.'_ _  
_ _  
__'I'm afraid.'_  
  
"But... I've never seen you so afraid for someone other than our crew, Captain." Bepo hesitantly admits.  
  
"Bepo." Law admonishes.  
  
"Sorry!"  
  
The conversation fades until he's beginning to doze when the shouts of his crew and angry footfalls cause him to open a single eye while Kikoku stirs at his side. It's when the feisty navigator throws open his door like it's a pebble instead of the thick metal that it is with a glare that rivals even his own, that Law realizes his voyage is more than just delayed for the time being.  
  
"Get your ass aboard our ship, Surgeon of Death!" Nami barks, her hands planted on her hips as if she's arguing with a small child and not the infamous pirate captain that he is. It's something that he's witnessed her do to the men in the Straw Hat Crew.  
  
"Our captain's _waiting_ for you, you know!"  
  
Law feels his irritation rise at the nerve, at the fact that the Straw Hats' think that they can _order_ him around, that they can _control_ and make him do something that he doesn't _want_ to do. But— _"Our captain's waiting for you."_ —  
  
_'Straw Hat's waiting.'_ _  
_ _  
__'Why?'_  
  
Nami rolls her eyes with a huff.  
  
"Don't act like that, you _have_ to know how our rubbery idiot feels about you." At his narrowed eyes, she grins. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. Sheesh, for someone with brains you're pretty stupid when it comes to romance, aren't you?"  
  
Without waiting for his response, the sea witch—an accurate name—turns to leave and waves a dismissive hand over her shoulder.  
  
"Come by when you grow a pair!"  
  
Because he has _a pair_ as the sea witch put it and doesn't like to be ordered around, Law lounges against Bepo for another hour and tries to sort out his thoughts before it becomes too much and he decides to leave the Polar Tang—ignoring his crews incredulous stares and happy grins—and boards the Thousand Sunny—ignoring the smug grins from the Straw Hats' (minus Tony-ya in the infirmary and Brook who has no lips to grin with)—before entering the infirmary with ridiculous butterflies fluttering in his stomach to the rhythm of his heart.  
  
Inside, Straw Hat's splayed across the sterile sheets and snoring, a snot bubble coming from his nose and drool escaping the side of his mouth. In a strange way, it's never as disgusting as it should be. But before he can mull over _that_ particular thought, Tony-ya's turning around and flashing him a grin.  
  
"Tra-guy! I'll finish up so you can be alone with Luffy."  
  
"There's no—" but before he can finish his sentence, Tony-ya's glancing at him guiltily.  
  
"I'm sorry that we reacted the way we did." Tony-ya apologizes, fidgeting and tapping his hooves together. "Everyone was just scared, and we... we—"  
  
"It's fine, Tony-ya. He's your nakama, I underst—"  
  
"No, it's not!" the startling brown eyes of the smaller doctor meets Law's own with a fierce gleam of determination. "You _are_ our nakama. After Dressrosa, after everything," the remorseful Straw Hat Doctor stares at the floorboards. "Luffy would be mad if he knew what we did. _We're_ mad at how we reacted. Zoro was the only one who didn't act like you're not nakama."  
  
Slightly touched, Law smirks at his fellow doctor.  
  
"Straw Hat's okay now, that's all that matters."  
  
Tony-ya remains silent for a moment before he nods and hesitantly grins back.  
  
"I'll leave you two alone now."  
  
After the small doctor finishes marking his charts and leaves the two pirate captains alone, Law settles Kikoku by the door before taking the seat pulled beside the bed.  
  
The rubbery captain mumbles _'Meat.'_ sleepily, drooling on his bed, unaware of the new presence in his room. Either that or uncaring.  
  
With a sigh, Law tips his head back and glances at his snoring ally, eyeing the bandages spotted with blood before his gaze settles on Straw Hat's face soft with sleep.  
  
It shouldn't be like this.

* * *

Law blearily opens his eyes from where he dozed off in the chair, already feeling a crick in his neck and ache in his back at the uncomfortable position.  
  
The Straw Hat responsible for waking him is Blackleg-ya carrying two platters which he places on the end table and sits the other on top of Tony-ya's desk near the clipboard.  
  
The pirate captain deducts that it's most likely lunchtime.  
  
"You've been asleep for an hour straight," the chef grins around his cigarette. "That's probably a record for you, isn't it?"  
  
Law allows a rueful smirk to settle across his features.  
  
"I was asleep longer on Dressrosa."  
  
Blackleg-ya regards him with a frown. "You and that idiot are more alike than you think."  
  
"Is that supposed to be insulting?"  
  
"Only if you take it that way."  
  
"That sounds _super_ dirty, Sanji-bro!" a familiar voice calls from outside the door.  
  
Blackleg-ya scowls. "I told you to wait, shithead!"  
  
"But that's _super_ boring!" Robo-ya nearly whines.  
  
"The foods in the other tray, I have to go kick a shitty robots ass." With a final scowl, the chain-smoking chef throws open the door with a shouted: "Alright, already!"  
  
Left alone with Straw Hat and feeling an actual appetite, Law opens the lid and is unsurprised when his younger ally begins sniffing the air but is _actually_ amazed when Straw Hat opens his eyes instead of the sleep eating that he usually does when he's injured.  
  
The meal goes by relatively quickly before his ally is staring at him with owlish eyes, and maybe in a desperation to stall the conversation and help Straw Hat, Law uses  _room_  to switchthe tea tray with the platter holding a bone absent of any meat.  
  
Straw Hat take the tea cup offered to him before pouting at the sugar cubes on the tray and without thinking, Law takes a handful of the cubes and offers them to his ally. Their eyes meet and the older pirate captain dumps the cubes in the cup.  
  
A tense silence follows and his ally's persistent stare continues, before it's broken when the rubbery captain finally speaks.  
  
"Is Torao still mad?" his voice sounds hoarse.  
  
Law glances at his ally, noting the messy bed head sticking up in all directions and the spittle dried on the corner of the teen's mouth. "Drink your tea, Straw Hat."  
  
The rubbery captain frowns. "I didn't mean it in the way that Torao thinks I did."

Straight to the point, as always.  
  
"What did you mean then?"  
  
Straw Hat pouts, his dark eyes dart to the floor briefly before returning Law's stare with a frustrated frown. "Torao's still being stupid."  
  
" _What did you mean,_ Straw Hat?"  
  
At no answer, Law grits his teeth further and begins to stand.  
  
"I have places to be—"  
  
"Stop lying, you jerk!" Straw Hat barks, frowning from where he's sitting cross-legged on the bed.  
  
"I have to leave." Law shoulders Kikoku in hopes of getting miles away from the idiot sitting like a child on the infirmary bed.  
  
"I want Torao to tell me what's wrong," Straw Hat says from behind him. "So why's he being weird?"  
  
"You're young—" Law tries, his hold on Kikoku tightening.  
  
"Torao's not that old. Stop trying to distract me!"  
  
"You'll meet new—"  
  
"Not like Torao!"  
  
" _Straw Hat_ —!"  
  
"Why?" the demand sits in the air. The _demand_ , like Straw Hat expects—  
  
"Because you _can't_ control me, Straw Hat." Law hisses, the thought of leaving gone like the past hope of making these feelings for Straw Hat disappear.  
  
"You _can't_ make me _obey_ —"  
  
"I wasn't trying to—" the teen protests.  
  
"You _did_ and you _know_ that it's true!"  
  
Another tense silence lapses.  
  
"I wanna be free, Torao." Straw Hat says simply after a moment, as if they weren't just at each other's throats; as if this is as simple as discussing what day it is and not their relationship or alliance.  
  
"I'm gonna be the Pirate King."  
  
Law remains quiet, frustrated but knowing that when Straw Hat gets like this, that the idiot's trying to say something important.  
  
"And I want Torao to be there. But if he doesn't wanna be there, then he has to say it and mean it."  
  
Law swallows, his chest heavy and lungs constricting. "I..."  
  
_'I want that.'_ _  
_ _  
__'But...'_  
  
"It's not that simple, Straw Hat."  
  
Straw Hat frowns, that intense expression usually reserved for enemies and nakama who need his help but can't say it, settling across his features like he's trying to save Law again, as if this is expected.  
  
"Torao's scared."  
  
_'Damn you.'_  
  
Law scowls, "It's not—"  
  
"I care about, Torao." The rubbery captain continues, unperturbed.  
  
"Straw—"  
  
"Even if he's being stupid 'cause he's scared."  
  
"I'm not." The Surgeon of Death protests weakly. "I'm not."  
  
"'Cause I know that he cares about me, too."  
  
"I—"  
  
Straw Hat's rubbery arms wrap around Law's waist before pulling the older captain against him. Law freezes at the touch, feeling the strong thrum of his lover's heartbeat against his own racing one.

It feels safe.  
  
"It's okay, Torao. I'm scared too, but I know that Torao's strong and..." Luffy's grip tightens. "I wanna be free with him and my nakama and the bear and all of Torao's own nakama." The idiot snickers, to divert attention or just because, Law doesn't know.  
  
"Torao must've been scared, huh?"  
  
Law frowns and closes his eyes, his own arms wrapped around Luffy's neck.  
  
"You'll be the death of me."  
  
"Shishishi~ Nami says that a lot, too!"  
  
The surgeon presses his face against the crook of his ally's neck.  
  
"I wonder why."  
  
Luffy makes a curious sound. "Huh, why Torao?"  
  
Law resists the urge to roll his eyes and presses a kiss against the chapped lips that carry the taste of salt from the sea and possibly the meat the other devoured minutes before.  
  
"Shut up, Luffy-ya."  
  
Luffy snickers again. "Not 'till Torao kisses me more!"

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if there were mistakes! My lovely beta is sick and I've been left to my own devices regarding mistakes and confusing sentences. So it's probably littered with my own personal disaster.
> 
> Lots of love to her and all who read this!
> 
> I didn't like how this fic ended, it just seemed, I don't know, not right? If that makes any sense. But other than that, who else is super fucking happy for this year's 10 Days of LawLu!?
> 
> I'm looking forward to reading fellow authors fics and reading those who comments praises or criticisms, constructive please! No need to spread hate and insecurity.
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed!


End file.
